Joanna Burger is a
behavioral ecologist whose primary interests are in the adaptive significance of
social behavior in vertebrates, ecological risk, and biomonitoring. In the area of social behavior she works
mainly with marine and coastal birds, including the effects of people and
chemicals on
reproductive success and ecology of colonial species. Her work on reptiles
involves examining hibernation behavior and behavior influenced by incubation
temperature, including locomotion, anti-predator behavior, foraging, and
over-wintering.
For several years she has been examining patterns of heavy metal
distribution worldwide, using avian and eggs feathers as indicators. This ongoing work
involves examining the effects of low level lead, chromium and manganese
exposure (similar to what children get when they eat lead paint) on behavior
development of Herring Gulls, both in the field and in the laboratory. Her work
with ecological risk assessment has included many different species and
habitats. Some of her work involves using the
Department of Energy as a case study to examine ecological health,
ecological risk, and species protection. She is currently working at the Department of Energy's
sites, including Hanford, Los Alamos, Idaho National Laboratory, Brookhaven,
Amchitka and the
Savannah
River Site, developing ecological risk methodologies. She
has served on several National Research Council Committees, the U.S. National SCOPE Committee, the National Academy of Sciences
Committee on Endocrine Disruptors, and has participated in several international
SCOPE committees on ecological risk, mercury, and hazardous wastes.
She is a fellow of the
American Association for the Advancement of Science, the
American Ornithologist's
Union, and of the
International
Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry.
She holds an honorary PhD from the University of Alaska at Fairbanks.
She has received the Distinguished Achievement from the
Society of Risk Analysis and the Brewster
Medal from the American Ornithologist Union.
EOHSI, the Environmental &
Occupational Health Sciences Institute
IMCS,
the Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences
The
Joint
Graduate Program in Toxicology (JGPT) is an inter-university, inter-departmental program
designed to train students in the discipline of toxicology. Established
in 1980, the participating universities are Rutgers, and the
University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-Robert Wood Johnson
Medical School (UMDNJ-RWJMS).
Joanna Burger , Ph.D.,
Minnesota. Avian behavior and ecology; salt marsh ecology; reptile
behavior; behavioral effects of heavy metals.
The
Joint
Graduate Program in Toxicology (JGPT) is an inter-university, inter-departmental program
designed to train students in the discipline of toxicology. The JGPT was
established in 1980 and operates under standing bylaws approved by its
faculty. The participating universities are Rutgers, The State
University of New Jersey, and The University of Medicine and Dentistry
of New Jersey-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (UMDNJ-RWJMS).
The mission is to restore and enhance
the ecological integrity of degraded public lands in various ways...
Joanna Burger: "Restoration of Avian
Habitat in Urban/Suburban and Coastal Habitats." N.J. Department of
Environmental Protection. "Factors Affecting Neotropical Migrant
Diversity in NE Urban Areas." U.S. Fish and Wildlife Conservation
Foundation.
Pine Snakes, threatened in New Jersey, breed in the
Pine Barrens, dig their own nests, and over-winter in hibernacula they dig
or modify. Since 1986, I have been following marked individuals in hibernacula.
Some snakes have been found for 18 of the last 21 years. Previous records for
longevity in wild Pine Snakes (or their conspecifics elsewhere) have been only
about 15 years, but there are no other similar studies that span the length of
our study in the New Jersey Pine Barrens. The snakes move from hibernation site
to hibernacula, but sometimes return in later years to a given one.
Fishing is a popular pastime and provides both recreation and fish for
consumption. She has been investigating the reasons why people fish, fish
consumption patterns, contaminants in fish, and the resultant risks and benefits.
She is particularly interested in providing people with sufficient information to
make their risk-based decisions.
One of my overall
interests has been ecological risk in urban environments, the Jersey Shore, and
at DOE sites. Developing bioindicators is critical to assessing ecological
health determining remediation and restorations, evaluating restoration, and
determining risk. Since there are literally millions of individual species
in ecosystems, it is critical be able to find species that will indicate
something about the health and well-being of ecosystems. Often these are
top-level predators within their systems, such as Pine Snakes, sharks, seabirds,
raptors, or wolves. However, they can also be species that are particularly at
risk, such as bottom dwelling fish in environments where the sediment at the
bottoms of lakes or rivers are polluted.
CRESP
(Consortium for Risk Evaluation with Stakeholder Participation)
CRESP is an independent university consortium to develop information and methods of analysis and
prediction that will support the decision-makers involved in managing the
decommissioning and cleanup of American nuclear weapons production facilities.
It will provide the U. S. Department Of Energy with a broader and deeper
understanding of risk-related issues that concern waste cleanup.For
general information on CRESP click here.
Amchitka and Aleutian studiesSince 2000
I have been working on examining metal and
radionuclide levels in algae, invertebrates, fish and birds on Amchitka, Kiska,
Adak and other Aleutian Islands. Much of this work was part of CRESP to examine
the potential risk from radionuclide exposure from three underground nuclear
test sites (1965-1971). In addition to radionuclide's, we also examined levels of
mercury and other metals in subsistence foods.
Oil spills are a potential threat to
the environment along the Jersey shore because both the New York harbor and
Delaware are major oil
import and export regions.Animals,
including humans, are increasingly exposed to a variety of environmental
chemicals that can cause adverse developmental neurobehavioral effects.
We've been examining the effect of lead and other contaminants from oil
spill on behavioral development of young.
Parrots are the most highly endangered group of birds, are
long-lived, and are highly intelligent. I have been interested in the
social behavior of parrots , including nesting behavior, foraging, behavior at
clay licks, and aggressive interactions. My research interests run in parallel
with an interest in companion parrots, and in education about companion parrots
and urban parrots. The Parrot who Owns Me (Random House) is a story about
developing a relationship with a parrot, including why parrots behave as they do.
Teaching:
BEHAVIOR BIOLOGY
This course is taught every year.
For course outline and project click HERE
Services
Service to
the University, State, Nation, and World is extremely important. Joanna Burger is
involved in committees at the University, State ( i.e., Governor's non-game
Council since 1978) National (for NRC, EPA, US Fish and Wildlife Service,
DOE) and World ( e.g. SCOPE) She is on several editorial boards, and is a
consultant to industry, conservation organizations and state and federal
agencies.
Founding Member
She has served as a member of the Endangered and Nongame Advisory Committee
since 1978.
She was Director for Chemical Analysis for 15 years and is now Co-Director of
the Center for Outreach and Education.
Publisher:
Firefly Books
Pages: 304 Publication Date: 9/12/2006
Trim Size: 9 1/4" x 9 1/4" x 1 1/4"
Notes: over 650 color photographs, illustrations and diagrams, factfiles,
glossary, index
ISBN: 1554071771 hardcover with jacket Price in U.S.: $ 29.95
Rights Held: Canadian and US rights Price in Canada: $ 29.95
Library of Congress #: QL673.B86 2006
Dewey #: 598
BISAC Headings: NATURE / Birds & Birdwatching (NAT004000)
SCIENCE / Life Sciences / Zoology / Ornithology (SCI070040)
Subtitle: A Naturalist in the
Northeast Author: Joanna Burger Subject: New Jersey and the
Region/Ecology and Environmental/Natural
History Paper ISBN 0-8135-3794-0 Cloth ISBN 0-8135-3877-7 Pages: 352 pp. 91 b&w illus
Author: Joanna Burger Subject: New Jersey and Regional Studies Paper ISBN 0-8135-2300-1 Pages: 287 pp. 100 line drawings Description: A literary trip along the Jersey Shore.
Author:Joanna Burger and
Michael Gochfeld Subject: New Jersey/Mid-Atlantic/Environment &
Ecology/Recreation Cloth ISBN 0-8135-2791-0 Paperback ISBN 0-8135-2766-X Pages: 272 pp., 100 b&w illus., 3 maps Description: A guidebook to the 25 most impressive nature
spectacles in New Jersey organized by season to ensure the best viewing
Animals in Towns and Cities (Redington Field
Guides to Biological Interactions)
Binding: Softcover Publisher: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company Date Published: 1998 ISBN-13:
9780787254704 ISBN:
0787254703 Description: Fine. 0787254703. "Increasingly, in our urbanized
society, we have come to think of nature as existing somewhere else, in
faraway wilderness areas...information on many diverse organisms, from
ants to alligators, from bats to bullfrogs, and from wild turkeys to
woodchucks...."; 8vo; 679 pp. Languages: English Alibris ID: 8222377626
Stakeholders and Scientists: Achieving
Implementable Solutions to Energy and Environmental Issues.
J. Burger, editor
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Springer, New York, New York.
Date Published: 2011
ISBN: 978-1-4419-8812-1
Description: Science and Stakeholders
provides a conceptual framework for stakeholder involvement, followed by
case studies to explore how to integrate and collaborate among diverse
stakeholders and communities to solve environmental and energy-related
problems. Stakeholder participation should result in more
transparent and acceptable solutions that protect both human and
ecological health. Many of the chapters are about place-based
environmental management, but all of the chapters deal with how
stakeholders have improved (or failed to improve) decision-making
processes. The final chapters discuss the role of communication and the
media, and a synthesis of stakeholder participation
Language: English
The Northern Pine Snake (Pituophis
melanoleucus) in New Jersey: Its Life History, Behavior and
Conservation.
Binding: Softcover Publisher: Nova Science
Publishers, Inc. New York Date Published: 2011 ISBN-10: 161209452X Description:
At the northern limit
of their range, the Pine Snake (Pituophis
melanoleucus) is listed as a threatened species by
the state of New Jersey. They occur in the southern
portion of the state in an area known as the Pine
Barrens, where they are isolated from other
conspecifics much farther south in Tennessee,
Virginia, Kentucky and the Carolinas. The major
threat that Pine Snakes face throughout their range
is habitat loss. Measures to protect Pine Snakes are
discussed in this book, particularly habitat
protection, enhancement of known nesting areas,
construction of hibernacula and protection of
nesting and hibernation habitats from off-road
vehicles
Life Along the Delaware Bay:
Cape May, Gateway to a Million Shorebirds
Joanna Burger, Larry Niles, Amanda Dey, Jan Van De Kam
Binding: Hardcover Publisher:
Rivergate Books Date Published: 2012 ISBN-10: 081355246X
Description: The Delaware Bay is the second largest and
most diverse bay on the East Coast. It has a rich cultural history, has
played an important role in the region’s commerce and tourism, and has
spectacular and vital natural resources. Birdwatchers gather along its
shores to watch the spectacle of thousands of spawning horseshoe crabs,
the dense flocks of migrant shorebirds, the fall hawk migration, and the
huge migration of monarch butterflies. Life Along
the Delaware Bay focuses on the area as an
ecosystem, the horseshoe crab as a keystone species within that system,
and the crucial role that the bay plays in the migratory ecology of
shorebirds. An abundance of horseshoe crabs spawning on the Delaware Bay
beaches results in an abundance of eggs brought to the surface,
providing a source of high-quality food and bringing hundreds of
thousands of shorebirds to the bay to forage in late May and early June.
A dramatic decline in horseshoe crabs has resulted in a rapid and
dramatic decline in birds, particularly the red knot. This decline has
sounded an alarm throughout the world, prompting a host of biologists to
converge on the bay each spring, to understand the biology and
conservation of red knots and other shorebirds.
Pine Snakes, threatened in New Jersey, breed in the
Pine Barrens, dig their own nests, and over-winter in hibernacula 
